It’s the moment that you’ve been dreading, the time that you have been hoping will never come. A difficult conversation to be had or a difficult decision to be made or communicated is not exactly a desirable activity to be done during an already overstressed workday, after all. 

The timing of when to perform these communications will often play an important role in ensuring that those interactions are received as best as they can be.

People are better able to have difficult conversations, address conflict and make clear-headed decisions in the morning rather than in the afternoon, as their level of capacity for emotional intelligence and critical appraisal is higher at that time. It is recommended to make hard decisions first thing in the morning as you will be more mentally capable of navigating the situations and be better placed to reach the most appropriate outcome. 

Regardless of  what time you choose to have these conversations, you need to consider the other people in the equation, and what time they will best be prepared to receive the feedback or join in decision-making tasks.

It’s also likely that you have delayed or put off addressing difficult situations because of a fear of how people will react or that you will in some way lose control of your emotions or make a knee-jerk reaction. The longer that these difficult decisions/conversations are delayed, the more likely it will aggregate into a larger issue. Avoidance will also highlight to others that there are additional problems that you aren’t addressing.

It’s important to aim to have these conversations in a respectful and compassionate manner, but it’s even more important to actually have these conversations. 

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